Bravo fit and excited to lead WI at home

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has declared himself fit for the game against India at Port-of-Spain on Friday. Bravo missed the previous match against India after picking up a groin strain during the opening game of the tri-series against Sri Lanka.

"I'll be playing tomorrow," Bravo said. "I've had four days of treatment. I'm feeling in a much better position than I was Sunday gone. I'm looking forward to leading the team, first time at home. It's going to be a great atmosphere."

West Indies won their first two games against India and Sri Lanka in Jamaica. The Trinidad leg of the series will kick off with what is expected to be a full house at the Queen's Park Oval on a "special" occasion for Bravo. "It's like a dream come true for me," Bravo said. "It's always good to play in the Oval. But to be the captain of the West Indies team is something special.

"We've been good in different patches. It's important that come tomorrow we give a good showing, batters bat deep, get runs, bowlers do the right things. We are in a good position to make it to the finals but we are not going to sit back and relax. The more we win, the better we become as a team and that's our aim."

Toby Radford, West Indies assistant coach, believed that consistency with the bat was the only thing the team was lacking. "I think we bowled well in Jamaica," Radford said. "We kept both sides under 230 (India) and [around] 200 (Sri Lanka). We were really good at it in the field. At times we batted well. I think what we have done with the batting is lost wickets in clusters and we often talk about it in the meetings. 'When you lose one wicket try and rebuild, don't lose two and three together and have two new batters'.

"We have hitters down the order… a bit of firepower in the end. If you can keep wickets in hand to the death overs you can do your damage. It's keeping your wickets in hand and then explode in the end with players who can explode."

Johnson Charles, one of the West Indies' most explosive players at the top, struggled against Sri Lanka, but showed what he was capable of with an attacking 97 against India. Radford said that Charles needed to be selective in which deliveries he would go after.

"When he is sensible and picks the right ball, he can play all the shots," Radford said. "I have talked to him a lot over the last two years. His bad day is when he picks the wrong ball, but when he is selective, he is a very aggressive player and he just showed the other day he can be a very sensible player. Hit the boundaries, but also tick the score over in the middle."

Pujara, India's best in all forms of the game, is still out of the side. I think one of Rohit, Vijay or Raina should sit out for Pujara, and when Dhoni is back two of them should be out (because Karthik is also good to have).

POSTED BY
delboy
on | July 5, 2013, 20:54 GMT

Certain players say it as it is and therefore do not live up to the coaches expectations, Dwayne Smith happens to be one of those. He is better off where he is..

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 13:26 GMT

go WI,ramdin must stay in the stands. give the gloves to charles and bring in a spinning allrounder even deonarine may do.

POSTED BY
espncricinfomobile
on | July 5, 2013, 13:18 GMT

I would go with Dwayne Smith and let Charles keep!

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 11:33 GMT

True,Ramdin looking a little useless these days..If WI needs a stronger team they should rest him and let charles do the keeping.

POSTED BY
Riddymon
on | July 5, 2013, 9:06 GMT

Best advice, toss the keeper gloves to charles, ditch ramdin and bring in another specialist batsman or bowler. In this situation, I'd bring in another batsman as we need to put up runs against india. Windies can definitely go all the way!!

POSTED BY
on | July 6, 2013, 2:06 GMT

Pujara, India's best in all forms of the game, is still out of the side. I think one of Rohit, Vijay or Raina should sit out for Pujara, and when Dhoni is back two of them should be out (because Karthik is also good to have).

POSTED BY
delboy
on | July 5, 2013, 20:54 GMT

Certain players say it as it is and therefore do not live up to the coaches expectations, Dwayne Smith happens to be one of those. He is better off where he is..

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 13:26 GMT

go WI,ramdin must stay in the stands. give the gloves to charles and bring in a spinning allrounder even deonarine may do.

POSTED BY
espncricinfomobile
on | July 5, 2013, 13:18 GMT

I would go with Dwayne Smith and let Charles keep!

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 11:33 GMT

True,Ramdin looking a little useless these days..If WI needs a stronger team they should rest him and let charles do the keeping.

POSTED BY
Riddymon
on | July 5, 2013, 9:06 GMT

Best advice, toss the keeper gloves to charles, ditch ramdin and bring in another specialist batsman or bowler. In this situation, I'd bring in another batsman as we need to put up runs against india. Windies can definitely go all the way!!

No featured comments at the moment.

POSTED BY
Riddymon
on | July 5, 2013, 9:06 GMT

Best advice, toss the keeper gloves to charles, ditch ramdin and bring in another specialist batsman or bowler. In this situation, I'd bring in another batsman as we need to put up runs against india. Windies can definitely go all the way!!

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 11:33 GMT

True,Ramdin looking a little useless these days..If WI needs a stronger team they should rest him and let charles do the keeping.

POSTED BY
espncricinfomobile
on | July 5, 2013, 13:18 GMT

I would go with Dwayne Smith and let Charles keep!

POSTED BY
on | July 5, 2013, 13:26 GMT

go WI,ramdin must stay in the stands. give the gloves to charles and bring in a spinning allrounder even deonarine may do.

POSTED BY
delboy
on | July 5, 2013, 20:54 GMT

Certain players say it as it is and therefore do not live up to the coaches expectations, Dwayne Smith happens to be one of those. He is better off where he is..

POSTED BY
on | July 6, 2013, 2:06 GMT

Pujara, India's best in all forms of the game, is still out of the side. I think one of Rohit, Vijay or Raina should sit out for Pujara, and when Dhoni is back two of them should be out (because Karthik is also good to have).